


Angel On Fire

by maydaykevin



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst, Gen, Major Character Injury, Mention of Past Abuse, Wymack's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-08 20:54:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11089731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maydaykevin/pseuds/maydaykevin
Summary: The aftermath of Kevin's broken hand through Wymack's perspective.





	Angel On Fire

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on what Nora has said in the extra content but also on my own interpretation and what not, so because of that all credit to Nora for a lot of the plot and dialogue - the title is from Halsey's new album. 
> 
> This was inspired by emmerrr’s fantastic 'Yes, Coach' – give it a read its fantastic. http://archiveofourown.org/works/9857321/chapters/22119446

 

* * *

_Lie down as I do in this miserable eternity of one day._

_It's useless to howl._

_From these waters the beasts of oblivion don't drink._

_-_ Ogla Orozco _, Llega en cada tormenta_

* * *

 

The Virginia Christmas banquet went, for the most part, as expected.

The Foxes had put on their accustomed fake smiles (and for some, fake personalities) before the entirety of the NCAA. They still, however, received the same scathing and pitying looks but it fazed none of them. They had grown used to such treatment, unfortunately.

David was currently in his and Abby’s hotel room, searching the cabinets as the bastards had run out of his favourite whiskey. He wouldn’t succumb to shit whiskey and he knew he needed a lot more liquor to get through the night.

How right he had been, he reflected wretchedly later.

He had left the Foxes in Abby’s care and trusted that none of them would pull anything unfavourable. David was somewhat wary of leaving all of them (namely Andrew) in Abby’s care, but she was a persistent woman when she needed to be. They would be fine.

David eventually found the bottle he had stashed, sighing as he took a quick mouthful. The burn in his throat was comfortable, the warmth easily and swiftly spreading throughout his body. His dependence should have left him worried, but David could care less.

A knock at the door soon broke David from his alcohol induced stupor.

He turned his head, speculating who it could be.

A member of the NCAA? Unlikely, they no doubt were in the mood to speak to him or anyone associated with Palmetto tonight. Abby? No, she had a key. One of the Foxes? Even more unlikely, they would have knocked the door down.

The knocks grew more fervent, David cursing under his breath before placing the bottle on the counter. “Calm down, I’m coming.” He muttered despite knowing they couldn’t hear him.

He opened the door, unknowingly, to both his past and his future.

David blinked in astonishment.  “Kevin?” He asked, his fading shock replaced with concern as he noticed the blood on the striker’s shirt and the rag he held close to his chest. “What are you doing here, kid?”

“ _Help me_.” Kevin’s voice was a hushed whisper in the silence of the hallway, his body swaying slightly as he attempted to shield the pain that flashed across his face each time he moved.

David hurriedly ushered him inside, quickly locking the door behind him as Kevin stumbled into the hotel room. He only made it a few steps before he collapsed by the wall, breathing heavily as he clutched his left hand.

“How did you get here?” David asked as he crouched down beside him, trying not to avoid his eyes as they reminded him too much of Kayleigh’s own. They were hard to swallow.

“I drove.”

David knew the drive from Edgar Allan down to Virginia was hours away, his curiosity only mounting at the confession. “What happened?” He asked.

“He said there would be consequences,” Kevin said, looking dazed and enveloped in pain as he continued to speak. “Riko warned me. I didn’t listen.”

David felt bile arise in his throat, his hands balling into fists in anger. “Riko did this to you?”

The Moriyama’s were, from David’s knowledge, complex. Kayleigh hadn’t revealed much about their hierarchy to him when she alive, perhaps she herself didn’t know. He struggled to comprehend where Kevin’s place among the hierarchy laid, but he knew it was firmly next to Riko.

_Riko_. The one who had abused him, broken him.

David wished he could rub the awful 2 from his cheek.

Kevin’s face had grown ashen. “In the locker room,” He whispered, clamping his eyes shut as his body started to tremble. “He hit me and I fell, I couldn’t move out of the way of his foot fast enough. It happened so fast, _it happened so fast_ –”

“Hey, hey, stop.” David hushed as Kevin’s breaths started to come out in short and panicked bursts. He had dealt with panic attacks in the past, he knew the signs and the triggers – David needed Kevin to focus. “You don’t have to explain.”

“I deserved it,” Kevin whispered desperately. “He said I did, that I deserved it…” He started to ramble incoherently, David attempting to console him before composing himself and reaching for his phone.

Kevin’s injury was his priority.

Abby answered almost immediately. “Where are you? Dan was asking for –”

“You need to come to the hotel room,” David cut her off. “I can’t explain over the phone but you need to get here right now.” She must have sensed the distressed tinge to his voice as she hung up instantly after he had finished.

David quickly focused his attention back on Kevin. He had stopped rambling and now seemed to be drifting into unconsciousness, his eyelids fluttering shut every so often. David took his face in his hands and shook him slightly.  “Don’t fall asleep on me, Kevin, not if you have a concussion.”

Kevin remained mute, David taking the time to assess the damage of his hand. The blood was seeping through the rags, David still unable to comprehend how Kevin could drive his way all the way down to Virginia in the state he (and his hand) was in.

Realisation soon swept over him.

It was Kevin’s left hand.

Kevin was a left-handed athlete.

Pity overcame David in a cold and unforgiving wave.

Kevin had been brought up as a champion, his mother had co-created the sport – he was born to play and to succeed at a global standard. Alongside Riko he was the pinnacle of all players, and without his dominant hand he would perhaps be unable to step foot on court as a player again.

He heard Abby’s footsteps behind him as he sat in silence with a no doubt mourning Kevin. “Is that who I think it is?”

David didn’t bother answering her question. “His hand is broken.”

Blood tarnished David’s white undershirt as he hauled Kevin up onto the couch. Abby came up beside him promptly with the first aid kit, her face contorted in concentration as she checked Kevin’s pupils.

“I don’t think he has a concussion,” She said and David sighed in relief. “I think it’s just shock. Kevin?” Abby then asked, Kevin’s heavy and exhausted eyes slowly moving to glower at them. David felt a pang in his chest at the shade of them. _They were just like hers._

“I’m going to remove this, okay? I need to check your hand.” She continued, awaiting Kevin’s nod of approval. Abby then slowly unravelled the bloody gauze, David peering over her shoulder as she did.

He instantly wished he hadn’t.

Various stray bones protruded out of Kevin’s hand, both dried and fresh blood staining Kevin’s skin. It looked grotesquely like a horror movie prop and David couldn’t fathom the cruelty of such a disturbed act by someone as young as Riko – especially to his own adoptive brother.

Abby seemed to be in a similar and distressed state. “I can’t patch this up, he needs to go to the hospital.”

“No,” Kevin murmured, catching their attention. “No hospitals.”

“ _Kevin_ ,” David found himself pleading in concern. “It’s bad, it’s worse than bad, kid. Abby can only do so much–”

“ _Please_ ,” Kevin begged in return. “No, you don’t understand what they’ll do. Here, do it here.”

He felt sick at Kevin’s words, the desperation in his voice haunting his mind as he stared down at his defeated form. How Kevin could deny such expertise in his treatment out of fear of his own adoptive family, risking the future of his career through such terror, David was astonished.

Exy was Kevin Day’s sustenance and David wondered if Kevin had anything else to live for, anything else to consume to fill such a void.

Abby injected Kevin with a general anaesthesia before rising to her feet, still holding the needle in her shaky hand as she gazed down at him sadly.

“Who did this?” Abby asked, her face flushed red and her shoulders tense. She had the same look on her face when any of their Foxes were injured, her compassion and empathy unable to be concealed in her frazzled state. 

“Riko,” David didn’t bother hiding the ire in his voice. He was enraged, there was no need to pretend.  “He fucking crushed his hand with his foot.”

Abby’s hand flew to her mouth. “ _Why?_ ” She asked, her voice barely audible in her surprise. 

David shook his head. “He freaked out before he told me, I wasn’t going to push him into telling me.”

Abby soon sighed. “If we can’t take him to the hospital what are we supposed to do?”

David’s stomach turned at the idea of taking the hospital out of the equation, but he could understand Kevin’s distress at the thought. If the media was alerted all hell would break loose, and David would be unable to control them or the outbreak of the story.

Kevin pushing through his agony and driving hours just to get away from the Moriyama’s was telling enough that they should not under any circumstances piss them off. A part of David, nevertheless, wanted desperately to put them in a world of pain just for what they had done to Kevin.

The rational side of him prevailed.

That is, the rational side that allowed a compound fracture to be forcibly pushed back into place and stitched up with a flimsy needle in a hotel room.

* * *

 

Carrying Kevin Day bridal style into a bus was not how David Wymack had planned his evening to end. He just prayed his team hadn’t gotten themselves into any altercations at the banquet whilst he had been gone.

Abby opened the bus doors and stepped out of the way to allow David to climb the stairs. He moved slowly and carefully as to not wake Kevin and decided to lay him on the closest and first seat. Kevin flinched but remained unconscious.

“Do you want me to get the others?” Abby asked as she draped her previously removed dress over Kevin’s limp body. Her hair was a mess and her sweater was askew but she seemed determined nonetheless.

“I’ll do it, you stay with him in case he wakes up.” David suppressed his recoil, the pain would be excruciating.

David rushed through the car park and past the clusters of scattered people to find his team. It was nearing midnight yet there was still a large group of people on court. David cursed his poor luck. He was thankful he had haphazardly thrown on a blue shirt under his jacket as the blood would have attracted unwanted attention.

He found Matt and Dan first by the doors of the court, both eager to see him before he brushed off their conversations. “Find the others and bring them back here. We are leaving, now.”

Slowly but surely the Foxes were rounded up. David did a quick head count before escorting them from the court – not too hastily as he didn’t want to draw attention to their abrupt departure.

The Foxes, despite their lethargy and varying levels of intoxication, made no real complaints. They appeared to all be done for the night and David wished he could say the same for himself.

David could feel eyes on him as he lead them down the hall. He soon locked eyes with Renee who watched him with a laser like focus, her dark eyes searching his own and no doubt finding the tension withheld in them.

He quickly turned away from her.

The Foxes complacent grumbles soon turned into confusion when they reached the bus.

“Keep it moving,” David said as they all hesitated. Renee was the first to move onto the bus, her footsteps quiet and slow before she halted at the pungent smell of the blood. David caught her shoulder and pushed her slightly to keep her moving. “On the bus, all of you. Go, go, go.”

Abby, who was standing at the top of the stairwell, blocked their path down the aisle somewhat as the team boarded the bus. David knew she was smartly obstructing their view of Kevin and was quietly thankful.

Dan was the second to sense trouble and sent them a perplexed and wild look before sitting down on the second seat behind Kevin’s covered body.

“Keep it moving,” David repeated as every single one of them tried to gawk and gaze at who laid on the first seat. He cursed their curiosity but couldn’t find it within himself to blame any of them. “We have to get out of here right now.”

The rest of them quickly took their seats abnormally (yet obviously) close to the front of the bus, the cousins the outlier as they remained at the back. David waited until they had settled to close the door and take his place in the isle, all eyes on him as they anticipated an explanation for the confusion.

David unbuttoned his jacket, cursing under his breath as he peered down to see the blue shirt stained with dark smears of Kevin’s blood. Dan was the only one to voice her concerns, her strangled cry silenced by the shake of his head that signalled it wasn’t his own.

Abby reached out to take the jacket and covered Kevin’s exposed legs. 

“Listen up,” David said, “because what I’m about to say is non-negotiable, and I am not going to repeat myself. We,” He signalled to the entire team, “are not going to repeat it, under any circumstance, to anyone. Friends, family, friends with benefits, I don't care. One word of this gets out before we’re ready for people to hear it and a lot of people are going to get hurt. Tell me you understand me.”

They all nodded eagerly, but David waited until he heard a chorus of _‘Yes Coach’_ to continue. David sent a quick look to Abby and then to Kevin’s crumpled form, the frown on his face worsening as he sighed. “There's been an accident. Right now, we are the only ones in a position to help him, so we are going to have a visitor for a while.”

A silence overcame the bus, David unable to fill it as he was too consumed in his own mind and tense grief to think of what to say. Vivid flashes of Kayleigh came into his mind, his eyes locked back on Kevin as anguish coursed through him for his misfortune.

“Coach?” Renee asked, David looking back at the group and their expectant faces.

“It’s Kevin Day,” David eventually sighed. “His left hand is broken.”

A silence once again overcame the group, yet this time it was more shock than either eagerness or confusion. David waited for the storm to hit as he stood before them.

Dan was the first to exclaim her horror. “Oh my God,” She said. “ _Oh my God_.”

“You're fucking me.” Seth said from behind her, bewildered and slightly in awe at Kevin’s presence.

Juan – one of the seniors – was out of his chair in a heartbeat and down the length of the bus to stare at Kevin's covered body. David anticipated this, as Kevin was the impossible standard to strive for in the striker’s eyes. He was a marvel to them.

David eyed Abby who leaned to one side so Juan could see better but still refused to move out of his way. Juan didn't seem to notice, and a second later Seth and Dwayne were right behind him.

“Uh, why is he alone?” Dwayne soon asked and Juan elbowed him for his crassness.

David understood his confusion. Kevin and Riko were a powerful unit who almost never found themselves apart. He overcame the urge to tell them all that Riko – the poster boy that he was – was the one who had done this, but he bit his tongue and remained stoically silent.  

“It's not really broken,” Seth said. “You’re lying.”

David traced a jagged line across the back of his left hand as he thought of Kevin’s injury, his grief returning. “Abby put the bones back in.” He watched as Seth gave a fierce jerk of his hand and moved back from Kevin slightly.

David continued his spiel. “I don't know yet what happened,” He lied. “But I do know he wants to be left alone. You know what will happen if people find out he's down south with us. We aren't ready to face that kind of response; I don't know if we ever will be. So, we're going to hide him until he doesn't need to hide anymore.”

“Yeah,” Juan said after a moment as he grabbed Dwayne’s shoulder to drag him back to their seats. “Yeah, no problem, Coach.” He reasoned.

“Thank you,” David breathed in relief as they all found their seats once more. He waited again until they were settled before getting into the driver's seat.

It would be a long drive back south.

* * *

An hour later Abby came up beside him with concerned eyes. “We need to stop. He’s awake and he’s bleeding through the bandages.”

David cursed, catching the attention of the group who had been deathly silent until now. He ignored the holes they were burning into the back of his head as he searched for a place to park. The pothole laced highway was in no way suitable for Abby to patch up Kevin’s damaged hand.

They eventually came across a roadhouse, a beacon in the darkness in David’s eyes.

David rose from his chair. He moved past Abby and crouched down in the isle by the first seat where Kevin was positioned. “Kevin?” He asked, shaking his leg gently to rouse him.

“Where am I?” Kevin moaned as he sat up, David swatting away Dan’s curious head from over the chair. “What’s going on?” He slurred, gasping loudly as he hit his hand on the seat.

The noise was enough to get Andrew out of his seat.

David pointed his finger at him and motioned for him to sit back down. Andrew stopped in his tracks but remained standing.

Kevin clutched his hand and tried yet failed to stand up, all the Foxes watching him intently as David started an attempt to lead him carefully off of the bus.

“ _Deux._ ” Andrew whispered, Kevin’s head whipping to the side at the French. The group all collectedly took a sharp intake of breath – the _2_ on his cheek was confirmation enough that David wasn’t lying and the situation was more than critical.

It was real, so very real.

“Andrew for god’s sake be quiet.” David cursed him, taking Kevin’s shoulder who violently recoiled away at the touch. David moved back instantly at his withdrawal, dread and concern all pooling in his stomach in a lethal concoction.

“I can fucking walk.” Kevin hissed vehemently, retreating like a caged animal as he used his right hand to shakily take hold of the top of the chair. “I’m not fucking crippled, I can walk, _I can walk_ …” He rambled as he painfully took hold of the metal bar and helped himself down to stairs where Abby was waiting.

David grit his teeth and ran his hands over his face in frustration. He didn’t lower his hands as he started to speak to Andrew, “You speak when not spoken to again Minyard and I swear –”

“You’ll what?” He asked, David looking up to catch his apathetic glare. “Cripple me?”

“ _Andrew!_ ” Nicky gasped as the upperclassmen and the others all turned to glare at the blond. Andrew was unfazed and that only ignited David’s temper further.

“That’s what happened, didn’t it?” Andrew prodded. “They broke one of their little toys because he was disobedient.” He said, David’s anger rising at Andrew’s harsh dismissal.

David, who was in no mood to continue the conversation any longer, spoke carefully and levelly. “In your seat, Andrew, _now_.”

Andrew forced a horrible smile on his face. “Yes Coach!” He cheered bitterly before he retreated to the back of the bus once more. His faux concern only exasperated David further, yet he knew his threats wouldn’t discourage Andrew from his taunts.

David soon followed Kevin down the steps of the bus, making sure to close the door behind him to ensure no curious ears would snoop in on their conversation.

The roadhouse was strangely empty albeit a few stray trucks, their bright orange bus most likely one of the more foreign occupants of the night. David found Abby and Kevin by one of the picnic tables.

Kevin was seated hunched over as Abby fixed up the stitches on his hand, wincing every few seconds as he held a rag in his mouth. A stray bandage was placed beside him, awaiting to be wrapped around his hand to replace the former, bloodied gauze.

The wound was bound to heal ugly and jagged and Kevin, who must have held the same train of thought, let out a defeated sob.

David wanted to console him, to hold him like he held Kayleigh those nights that felt so horribly far away, when her own anxiety overcame her. Pity and agony and rage prevailed within David’s chest. Kevin did not deserve this, he was too young, _they were always too goddamn young._

Kevin’s wrecked voice broke him from his stupor. “I’m never going to play again.”

David sighed and crouched down beside him, Abby wiping her eyes after she finished dressing the wound and walked away to give them some space.

He stayed silent as he stroked Kevin’s hair, letting him voice his fears in frantic gasps as his right hand hovered over his left.

David, who hadn’t felt such fatherly affection since the time he thought Kevin was truly his son, felt a horrible ache in his chest at his inability to shield Kevin from his pain.

He vowed that night, to himself and silently to Kevin, that Riko wouldn’t get away with this. He would pay for all he had done and all the misery he had inflicted.

 

 

_And he did._

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a link to Nora's Tumblr post: http://korakos.tumblr.com/post/132962477987/cant-remember-if-its-already-been-answered-but


End file.
